Hello.

My name is Mrs. Tipping, and I am really looking forward to learning with you today, all about significant rulers from the past, and we're going to explore the question, what can those rulers, what can their stories tell us? So, shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson you'll be able to explain how Mehr al-Nesa came to be known as Nur Jahan.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these keywords down.

The keywords we'll be using today are official, widow, court, title.

I'm going to say those keywords again, and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Official.

Widow.

Court.

Title.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Let's take a look at each of the definitions for our keywords.

An official is someone who works for someone important, like the Mughal Emperor.

When someone becomes a widow, it means their husband or wife has died.

A court is a place where the emperor would gather and make decisions about the empire.

A person's title is a word such as sir, lord, or lady that is used in front of their name or a phrase that is used instead of their name.

Pause the video here to make a note of the keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Mail Mehr al-Nesa, the widow.

Why was Mehr al-Nesa given a new title? In the first learning cycle, we'll explore Mehr al-Nesa, the widow.

Mehr al-Nesa was born in Kandahar after her parents made the journey to India.

Although not much is known about Mehr al-Nesa when she was young, there are legends about her that try to explain how she became powerful.

Her father worked for the mighty Mughal Empire, so Mehr al-Nesa was given a good education.

And we know more about Mehr al-Nesa after she married a Mughal official named Sher Afghan.

Hmm.

I wonder, what is an official? That's one of our keywords.

What do you think? Well, an official is someone who works for someone important, like the Mughal Emperor.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Officials work for important people.

Is that true or false? Hmm.

What do you think? If you said that's true, you're absolutely right.

Now, taking a look at these two statements, which of these would help you to justify your answer? Officials often work for important people like the Mughal Emperor.

Officials often work for important people like the poor.

Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your learning partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said officials often work for important people like the Mughal Emperor, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now, Mehr al-Nesa grew up in India, and this is where she met her husband and they had a daughter together.

She lived a happy life until one tragic event.

Unfortunately, her husband got into an argument with a local governor and he was killed.

Now this left Mehr al-Nesa a widow.

A widow.

Hmm.

That's one of our keywords.

What is a widow? Well, when someone becomes a widow it means their husband or wife has died.

So Mehr al-Nesa's husband was killed, so she became a widow.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Match the keyword to the correct definition.

So we have widow.

When someone becomes a widow, it means their husband or wife has died.

When someone becomes a widow, it means their husband or wife has moved away.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said, when someone becomes a widow, it means their husband or wife has died, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to describe to your learning partner how Mehr al-Nesa became a widow.

So, pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this learning task and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So your answer may include, Mehr al-Nesa became a widow because her husband, Sher Afghan, who was a Mughal official, was killed.

He got into an argument with a local governor.

Well done if you were able to describe how Mehr al-Nesa became a widow, and well done for completing that learning task.

This brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to explore why Mehr al-Nesa was given a new title.

After her husband's death, Mehr al-Nesa was struggling.

Mehr al-Nesa and her daughter were invited to a place called Agra by Emperor Jahangir so they could be kept safe.

At this time, widows were welcomed to the emperor's court to keep the emperor's wives company.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Mehr al-Nesa was welcomed to the Mughal Emperor's court.

Is that true or false? Hmm.

What do you think? That was true.

Now, looking at these two statements, which of these would help to justify your answer? She was a widow and widows were welcomed to look after the emperor.

She was a widow and widows were welcomed to keep the emperor's wives company.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your learning partner to decide which of these two statements would help to justify your answer, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said she was a widow and widows were welcomed to keep the emperor's wives company, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

The court was a place where the emperor would meet his officials to talk about the empire.

You can see an illustration of the governors at court there, and you can see Emperor Jahangir in the middle.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Can you fill in the gaps with keywords to complete the definition? The, was a place where the emperor would gather with his, to discuss and make decisions about the empire.

Pause the video here and have a think about the keywords that need to fill those gaps to complete the definition, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look? So the court was a place where the emperor would gather with his officials to discuss and make decisions about the empire.

Well done if you were able to choose the correct keywords.

Now, Emperor Jahangir had 19 wives, and Mehr al-Nesa worked as a helper to one of them, Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum.

Mehr al-Nesa helped the empress for four years and it is believed they became good friends.

After four years, Mehr al-Nesa was invited to meet Emperor Jahangir.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

How long was Mehr al-Nesa a helper in the royal court? Two years, four years, or eight years? Pause the video here and take a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

If you said four years, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now when the emperor met Mehr al-Nesa, he fell in love with her straight away and they were married in 1611 and Mehr al-Nesa became his 20th and last wife.

At this time in India, the emperor was allowed to marry more than one person.

In the United Kingdom today, people are not allowed to marry more than one person.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

How many wives did Emperor Jahangir have? Two, nine, or 20? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your learning partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that he had 20 wives, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

When Mehr al-Nesa married the emperor, he gave her a new title, Nur Jahan.

Nur Jahan means Light of the World.

Nur Jahan soon became Emperor Jahangir's favourite wife.

We know that Nur Jahan was his favourite because Jahangir gave her brother and father important jobs in the court.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What does Nur Jahan mean? Darkness of the World, Light of the World, Brightness of the World.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

If you said Nur Jahan means Light of the World, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to explain how Mehr al-Nesa was given the title Nur Jahan.

You can use these words to help you, widow, court, Emperor Jahangir, Light of the world.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this learning task and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So your answer may include, Mehr al-Nesa became a widow when her husband was killed.

Widows were invited to the Mughal Emperor's court to keep his wives company.

Emperor Jahangir married Mehr al-Nesa and he gave her the title Nur Jahan.

Nur Jahan means Light of the World.

Well done if you were able to explain how Mehr al-Nesa was given the title Nur Jahan.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about Nur Jahan's journey to become Emperor Jahangir's wife.

Mehr al-Nesa married a Mughal official named Sher Afghan.

Sher Afghan got into an argument and was killed.

Mehr al-Nesa was left a widow.

The emperor Jahangir invited widows into his court to keep his wives company.

Emperor Jahangir wanted to marry Mehr al-Nesa.

Mehr al-Nesa was given the title Nur Jahan, which means Light of the World, by the Emperor.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.